The aim of this review is to identify the behavioural soothing interventions (BSIs) used for reducing infant crying and to determine their effect. Studies had to describe an experimental study addressing infant crying and BSIs in the first six months after birth. Searches were performed in Web of Science, Pubmed, Science Direct, EBSCOhost,…

The World Health Organization identified the promotion of "Nurturing Care Environments" as a global health priority. Responsive caregiving, 1 of 5 domains describing nurturing care, is critical for healthy child development. Relatively little research has evaluated population-level interventions aimed to increase responsive caregiving…

Recent studies indicate the need to investigate the sources of toddlers' understanding of another person's pretense. The present study is a cultural and longitudinal extension of the work of Lillard and Witherington (2004), who claimed that mothers modify their behaviors during pretense and that the some of these behavior modifications help their…

Objective: Recent research on psychosocial interventions addressing the well-being of women with HIV/AIDS has brought new options for practitioners. This study critically reviews the treatment features, methodological quality, and efficacy of these interventions. Methods: A comprehensive search between 2000 and 2011 identified 19 studies employing…

Mothers' actions are more enthusiastic, simple, and repetitive when demonstrating novel object properties to their infants than to adults, a behavioral modification called "infant-directed action" by Brand and colleagues (2002). The current study tested whether fathers also tailor their behavior when interacting with infants and whether this…

Background: Despite the mounting evidence of efficacy of early intervention for children with autism spectrum disorders, there is little research that considers the various perceptions and resources with which parents respond to the pressures and opportunities associated with participation in early intervention. Research is particularly lacking…

This literature review focuses on factors found to be associated with individual differences in infant night waking. Infant night waking that requires parent intervention to assist the infant to return to sleep is of special concern to parents because of the sleep deprivation and fragmentation that they experience. Both intrinsic and extrinsic…

The early introduction of solids to infants is a risk factor associated with later health problems including allergies, overweight, and diabetes. The Infant Feeding Series (TIFS), a newly designed curriculum that promotes the appropriate transition to solids through parenting education and behavior change among low-income mothers, used the Theory…

Cites research on smiling and laughter to illustrate a dynamic systems approach to emotion communication. Maintains that emotion is relational and not individual; the nonreflexive aspects of emotion involve the connection between a person and a context taken as a whole. Presents findings regarding social processes involved in smiling and laughter…

Although prevention of mother-to-child HIV transmission (PMTCT) programs are predicated on maternal behavior change, little is known about sociocultural factors affecting maternal-child care practices in this arena. The authors used narrative methods (key informant workshops, questionnaires, focus groups, and case study analysis) to explore how…

Objective: To compare neglectful and non-neglectful mothers on information processing tasks related to child emotions, behaviors, the caregiving relationship, and recall of child-related information. Method: A natural group design was used. Neglectful mothers (N = 34) were chosen from active, chronic caseloads; non-neglectful comparison mothers (N…

Four young mothers with one-year-old infants were successfully taught to reduce their children's potential for injury in the home through interventions which included increasing positive interactions with the infant, child-proofing the home, using playpen time-out for potentially dangerous behaviors, and giving positive attention for safe…

Twelve mothers were videotaped interacting with their children, aged 13 months, and 100 maternal utterances were coded for pragmatic intent. Prescriptives were coded as either changing or following the child's focus of attention. Results show that, given a joint focus, directing a 13-month-old's behavior can have beneficial effects on subsequent…

A study investigated the performance of high- and low-risk (for child abuse) mothers on cognitive measures in a cry (crying infant) and no-cry condition. High-risk mothers had lower conceptual ability, cognitive flexibility, and problem-solving skills. The difficulty high-risk mothers have in using feedback to modify their behavior is discussed.…

In a short-term, intensive parent-training program, mothers of developmentally delayed infants are shown how to teach their children toy play behaviors. This study evaluates intervention effects on parents and children, with a focus on maternal behaviors. Results indicate improved maternal teaching behavior and generalizability of positive…